Root Vegetable Rösti with Kale

The last days of summer are over and we are full swing into fall. Days are shorter, the weather is cool and crisp and the leaves are in all their autumnal glory. For my family our annual trip to the pumpkin patch is a true celebration of the fall. Donning our rain gear and gumboots we trek through loads of glorious mud to find the perfect pumpkins and after finding the gourds that are declared to be the perfect specimens we warm our hand over mugs of hot chocolate. I love this time of year.

A rösti is a essentially a potato pancake; a Swiss side dish of shredded potato crisped up in a pancake shape. I read about röstis in a magazine and was intrigued; I had to put my own spin on it. This rösti was inspired by the fall. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, yams, sweet potato and red onion come together with the beautiful dark green of lacinato kale. The rösti is crunchy and crisp on the outside and soft and creamy in the inside, so delicious! This is a rustic dish but its imperfection doesn’t bother me, as long it has a chance to crisp up on both sides the taste is what counts.

I have made this rösti as one large one and as several small ones. I find the large ones are much harder to flip. It entails using a cutting board to slide the rösti onto and then teasing it back into the pan. Smaller rösti are easier to flip but can be a bit messier and more time consuming to make. No matter how you choose to make your rösti I am sure you will enjoy the final result, a delicious celebration of the fall.

Peel and shred the russet potatoes. Squeeze the shredded pieces to get out as much water as you can.

Peel and shred the parsnips, carrots, sweet potato and yam. Mix with the shredded potato.

Finely dice red onion and add it to the vegetable mixture.

De-stem the kale. Finely chop the leaves and add it to the vegetable mixture.

Season the vegetables with poultry seasoning, cayenne powder, herbamare salt and pepper. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning as needed. Leave out cayenne if you do not wish your rösti to be spicy.

Heat about 3 tbsp of oil in a nonstick pan. A cast iron pan would work very well for this dish as well.

Add a mound of the vegetable mixture to the heated pan Add a full pans worth if you want to make one large rösti or a few small mound if you plan on making smaller ones. Flatten the mounds with a spatula. The rösti should be about 1 inch thick in order to get the crispy outsides and creamy soft insides.

Let the rösti fry until the bottom side is golden brown. Loosen it gently with the spatula and flip over. If making a large rösti slide onto a cutting board and then gently invert back onto pan.

Cook until the other side is also golden brown.

Serve in wedges or as full little cakes with plain yogurt and avocado slices.